Trapped!
by MzDany
Summary: When Chakotay is held hostage by outlaw Cardassians, Janeway finally comes clean with herself about her feelings for him, and races against time to save him.


**TRAPPED  
****By Dany  
****Rated PG-13, but some violence.**

**Summary: When Chakotay is being held hostage by outlaw Cardassians, Janeway finally comes clean with herself about her feelings for him, and races against time to save him.**

**Many thanks to Brianna for her invaluable input and suggestions. Dankeschön!**

"Well, dinner was delicious, as always." Commander Chakotay took the last sip of his drink and looked across the table at his captain.

"Liar." Kathryn grinned at him over the rim of her glass.

"Hey, it's not your fault, it's your replicator," he grinned back, "But maybe you shouldn't have called it a 'glorified toaster' a couple of months ago."

She sighed, "Yes, who would've thought replicators held grudges. My coffees haven't been the same since, either."

"Well, you know, we _have_ been having way too many dinners in your quarters lately."

Kathryn gave him a puzzled look, but Chakotay smiled, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's high time for _me_ to cook for _you_."

Kathryn pretended to look thoughtful for a moment, "As long as you don't have to take a Delta Flyer to scour the 'countryside' for supplies. Our shuttle inventory is getting low." Laughing, she dodged the napkin flying at her. "But I accept the invitation. Where, when and what?"

"Tomorrow, _my_ quarters, and....it's a surprise."

Kathryn raised her eyebrows, "Oh, I don't know if I should be delighted or worried. How about a hint at least?"

Chakotay shook his head slightly, dimples flashing, "It's an old family recipe. I haven't prepared it in eons, but I think I can still piece it together." He rose and prepared to leave.

Kathryn followed him to the door. "Now I'm definitely worried. Hope you remember where you put your cookbook."

Chakotay was still grinning. "It's all right here." He tapped his left temple.

"You are hiding secret recipes in your tattoo?"

They both chuckled as the door swung open. Chakotay stepped into the deserted corridor and turned to face her. "Good night, Captain."

"Good night, Commander."

Yet he hesitated, his gaze lingering on her. Kathryn looked deep into his onyx eyes for a moment, but then she did what she always did: retreat.

After the door hissed shut she put her forehead against the wall. _Another missed opportunity!_ _What's wrong with you?_ she chided herself. _You know he would stay if you only let him. _

Against her will her mind switched to the dream she'd had last night, in which Chakotay had definitely stayed in her quarters after dinner. As a matter of fact, he had stayed for breakfast. And what happened in between those two mealtimes had been more delicious than she dared to admit to herself in a waking state.

Oh, she had liked that dream. Too much.

She knew that he loved her. He had all but told her so during their fateful six-week isolation on a beautiful, nameless planet. And despite the speech about 'defining some parameters' she had given him in response, her feelings for him had changed as well.

_What if we had stayed on New Earth...?_ she thought again, as she had many times.

But they hadn't, and since their return to Voyager a year and a half ago she had been wrestling with the feelings that were churning within her for this man. During the day _Captain Janeway_ managed to keep her emotions stowed away, but in the privacy of her quarters, _Kathryn_ was lonely. And dreaming...of Chakotay.

She went back to the table and sat in the chair he had just occupied. His essence still seemed to linger here.

_Well, dinner is on for tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe...._

**ON TH**E **BRIDGE...**

"Mr. Tuvok, how much longer until we reach that planetoid cluster?"

"Maintaining our current speed, approximately twenty hours, Captain."

"Mr. Kim, any indications yet as to whether there are any M-class planets there?"

"We are still out of sensor range of the cluster, Captain, but according to my calculations we should be able to begin scanning in about nine hours."

"Well, I guess we'll just sit back and enjoy the scenery until then. Maintain course and speed, Mr. Paris."

"Aye, Captain."

Captain Janeway shifted in her chair, leaned slightly to the left and lowered her voice, "Commander, does dinner tonight include Leola root?"

"No, and knowing how you feel about Leola root, I would have left it out even if my mother's recipe had called for it."

"You're too kind."

They grinned at each other. She had been throwing seemingly casual questions about the surprise dinner at him all day. He was starting to believe that she really looked forward to tonight. He felt the dying ember of hope glimmer in him again.

_Maybe, just maybe..._

"Captain, I am picking up a strange reading here." Ensign Kim's voice came from the console behind the command chairs.

Janeway turned her head. "Elaborate, Mr. Kim."  
Harry hesitated, "It seems to be a distress signal of some kind. No, wait, make that... _four _signals..." he fell silent, fingers flying over the panel.

The command team exchanged a startled look.

Suddenly Harry jerked up his head, eyes wide. "Captain, they are four completely different signals, but one of them is a Federation code."

Kathryn literally flew out of her chair and took the two steps towards the ensign's station in one leap to look over his shoulder while he tried to extract more readings out of his display.

"Can you verify the authenticity of this code, Harry?" she breathed, trying not to get too excited.

"Yes, ma'am, it's an older, civilian code, but definitely of Federation origin."

"Visual or audio, Ensign?" came Chakotay's voice.

All eyes on the bridge were now on Harry Kim, who was not aware of it, for his attention was completely focused on the data flow in front of him. "Actually, it's neither, Commander; just a standard 'SOS' signal with a set of coordinates."

"Captain," Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, who had quietly moved from his console to assume a position to Harry's right, spoke up, "Ensign Kim is correct; however, I must point out that the other three signals are encrypted in Romulan, Kazon and Cardassian codes."

Captain Janeway stared incredulously at her security chief for a moment before she spoke. "Mr. Kim, I want a full analysis of all four codes and a calculation on those coordinates. All other senior officers to my ready room."

**BRAINSTORMING...**

Kathryn Janeway looked over her assembled team. "All right, people, first shock is over, what do we make of this?"

Lieutenant Tom Paris drummed his fingers on the conference table, "OK, without even touching on the Federation signal for now: I could comprehend a Kazon transmission, this being their home quadrant, but _Romulan_ and _Cardassian?_"

Commander Chakotay was tugging on his earlobe, "The Romulans have been trying to stabilize wormholes for years. Maybe they've finally found a way and one of their ships somehow got stuck in the Delta Quadrant. That still doesn't explain the Cardassian code, though."

"Nor the Kazon signal," B'Elanna Torres added, "They are not exactly known for their hospitality towards other races. I don't see them allying themselves with the Cardassians _or_ the Romulans, even if they somehow made it all the way over here."

The door hissed open and ensign Kim strode into the conference room. Seeing the expectant looks on everyone's faces, he came straight to the point.

"Captain, all four signals have been authenticated. The Romulan and Cardassian encryptions are military, albeit several years old, and I have cross-referenced the Kazon code with several other stored Kazon transmissions in the computer and it matched a standard distress signal from the Hobai sect. As for the Federation signal..." he shrugged, "no news there; standard civilian freighter code, approximately six years old. No other information. Sorry."

He handed Janeway a PADD with his report.

She studied it for a moment. "And all of those signals originated in the same location?"

The ensign nodded. "Yes ma'am, approximately four light years from here, bearing two-point five-three mark six."

"Means we could be there in a couple of hours at max speed." Tom remarked.

The captain sighed and looked over her crew, "Frankly, I am as puzzled about this as you are, not to mention pretty darn skeptical about this strange signal combination. But that doesn't change anything about the fact that we have received those transmissions and we are obligated to respond. But we will proceed with caution. I'll be damned if we fly right into their path of fire."

Janeway rose and tugged at her uniform jacket. "Mr. Tuvok, I want a full check on our weapons systems, make sure everything's 'well oiled'. Mr. Kim, you will begin continuous long-rang sensor sweeps until we have reached those coordinates. Anything unusual, report to me at once. Mr. Paris, take us there."

She looked into the round of her senior staff. "Dismissed."

**WARY...**

Seven hours later, Voyager arrived at the distress signals' transmitted coordinates.

From their command chairs, Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay scrutinized the small M-class planet filling the bridge's viewscreen. A marble pattern of green, blue and white colors ran across the three continents of its surface and a small moon orbited it. Under normal circumstances Kathryn would have delighted in exploring this pretty planet, but since they had come into orbit, an uneasy feeling had crept upon her and she had not been able to shake it. It sat in her stomach like curdled milk.

The steady sounds of chirps and beeps behind her told her that Harry was hard at work scanning the planet. All through the flight the long-range sensors had not detected any traces of Romulan, Cardassian or Kazon presence in the area.

"Anything to report yet, Mr. Kim?" she asked.

"Standard M-class planet, Captain. Breathable oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. Most of the surface seems to be composed of mountain ranges and heavily wooded areas. There is quite a bit of seismic interference, but I detect several dozen species of birds and animals. No humanoid or any other life signs, though."

Suddenly a slightly louder series of beeps sounded from Harry's console and the ensign's voice took on a more urgent tone, "Scans have detected a large concentration of tritanium and silicone carbide on the surface." He looked up, "It's the wreckage of a ship, Captain."

Kathryn cast a quick look at her first officer, but Chakotay's face was unreadable as he turned towards her, "Even though the scan shows no life forms, that doesn't mean that there could not be any survivors down there. There might be caves in those mountains that our sensors can't penetrate."

She nodded, "Let's hail the ship, Ensign."

Harry carried out the order. "No response, Captain, but there is no way to confirm that anyone even received the hail. Communications down there are probably non-functional."

Still looking at Chakotay, Kathryn exclaimed, "All right, straight to part two, then. Commander, assemble an Away Team to investigate the ship and to seek out possible survivors. In the meantime, we'll keep on scanning the planet for any other clues."

Chakotay nodded briskly, already rising from his chair. "Mr. Paris, Mr. Tuvok, you're with me." Striding towards the turbolift he hit his combadge.

"Bridge to engineering. Torres, meet us in Transporter room one for an Away Mission."

Just before the doors of the turbolift closed an inexplicable feeling made Captain Janeway turn towards her Away Team and the last thing she saw before the doors hissed shut was Chakotay smiling at her.

**PLANETSIDE...**

The Away Team materialized in one of the few areas where the seismic interference was low enough for a safe transport; a clearing in the forest about three hundred meters away from the wrecked vessel. Looking around, Chakotay was struck at just how _green_ their surroundings were. The ground was blanketed in mossy grass that reached halfway up the trunks of every tree in sight. The trees themselves were massive, their leaf-covered branches interconnecting with each other, thus forming a dense canopy through which they could barely see the grey skies above. Huge ferns grew between their trunks, mingling with smaller shrubs and bushes of tangled, thorny vines. The whole forest shone in at least a dozen shades of green. A cool breeze caressed Chakotay's cheek, scented with the aroma of decaying leaves. From high above he heard the unfamiliar cries and squawks of several unseen species of birds.

The five other members of the Away Team all had their tricorders out, busily scanning the area in all directions.

"Commander, I am getting conflicting readings here." remarked Lieutenant Ayala almost immediately.

"Same here." B'Elanna affirmed, "It's all this seismic interference around us."

"Reduce your tricorder range to a shorter distance. That should give us more accurate readings at least for our immediate area." Chakotay looked towards the direction of the wreck, "We'll fan out. Ayala, Paris, see if you can find any signs of survivors in the area; tracks, campfire residues, anything. Mr. Tuvok, Ensign Wu, same search, just in the opposite direction. B'Elanna, let's check out the ship." He moved off.

The ship had come down right into the midst of the forest, and the trees had obstructed most of their view so far, but as they got closer, more and more of the craft became visible. When they had closed the distance to about fifty meters, the trees suddenly gave way and they stopped in their tracks, utterly surprised at the sight before them:

They were looking at a Romulan Warbird.

"What the..." B'Elanna reached for her phaser, instantly alarmed.

Chakotay stepped in front of her, phaser in one hand, tricorder in the other, the look of surprise and alarm on his face matching hers. He took a long look around before he lowered his eyes to the tricorder's readings.

"It's no use; these readings don't make any sense," He shook his head in frustration. "We'll have to get inside."

B'Elanna's eyes traveled over the large, elegant ship while she kept pace with Chakotay. The engineer in her automatically took in the unnatural angle on which the ship sat, the badly damaged hull, and the plasma turbines that looked ready to fall out of their mounts if she only blew on them.

"It's a D'eridex-class ship. Probably not one of the largest models, but still an impressive size, at that." she remarked. "The pilot who crashed this baby could put _you _to shame, Chakotay," she grinned with a side glance at her commander.

Chakotay shot her what he hoped was a formidable death glare, but inwardly he grinned at her jest. Over the years, B'Elanna had had to fix more of his crashed shuttles than he cared to remember.

Cautiously they circled the starboard side of the vessel and almost stumbled over the emergency exit door lying in the grass. It had been blown out of its frame. To the right of the door the Romulan Empire's triangular insignia with its spread wings was still visible, though badly scratched. But no signs of phaser burns anywhere so far.

_So what made it crash? _Chakotay craned his neck trying to look inside, but the interior was too murky to make out any details. With a shrug he heaved himself upwards and entered the Warbird. Then he extended a hand to B'Elanna.

They found themselves in a narrow corridor. Now Torres led the way and after a few feet they stepped through another doorless frame and onto the bridge of the vessel.

There was not much left for them to see. Not because the dim light that came through the viewscreen barely illuminated the room, but the entire area had been stripped down to the bare walls. Not a single computer console had been left behind. Bare wires hung from the ceiling and snaked along the floor. Torres looked around in astonishment.

"Thorough." she mumbled.

Her tricorder beeped and she traced the readings to what had looked like a crumbled, abandoned piece of tarp lying in a corner. She lifted the cloth and a rectangular box was revealed, roughly the size of a small replicator. On its small console, an orange and green light flashed alternately. "Well, we've found the source of the signals," she remarked wryly.

Suddenly Chakotay sensed more than saw movement behind them. He whirled around, but before he could aim his phaser he saw a bright energy beam shooting out of the shadows of the opposite corner. It struck B'Elanna directly in the chest and with a cry she was flung backwards against the bulkhead. He had no time to even call her name before he was hit by the second discharge and the darkness claimed him even before the pain set in.

**ENEMY TERRITORY...**

He awoke on the cold stone floor of a spacious cavern. Thankfully, the first thing Chakotay saw was B'Elanna next to him, her lips drawn back in an angry snarl while she propped herself up on her elbow. He shook his head to clear his vision, ignoring the burning pain in his chest from the phaser stun, and followed her gaze. It fell on a tall, stern-looking Cardassian, who was looking down at them, wearing a tattered array of various military uniforms, part Cardassian, part Kazon. His hand rested on top of a large command console in the center of the room. Beside him on the console lay both of their phasers, tricorders, and combadges. The Cardassian was smiling, but that smile never reached his cold eyes, which were fixed on them as Chakotay helped B'Elanna to her feet.

"Starfleet, I see? It's been a long time since I had the pleasure of such distinguished company. As a matter of fact, I have never had it _here_." He came closer.

"I believe first meetings warrant an introduction. I am Gul Preldoc, leader of this quaint little community. Thank you for responding to our distress signal and rushing to our rescue."

His smug facial expression, however, contradicted the sincerity of his words. He turned to Chakotay, waiting.

"Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Torres of the Federation Starship Voyager. And, yes, we did receive your signal. We came here to offer our help, so why were we stunned, why the hostility?" Chakotay gestured towards the six heavily armed guards positioned throughout the chamber.

Preldoc shrugged, "Just our normal security measures. Let's just say that there are certain 'entities' by which we don't wish to be rescued, or even located. Therefore we cannot risk the location of our compound being disclosed. To anyone."

"Our scans didn't reveal any other life forms on this planet." B'Elanna noted.

Preldoc ignored her. Instead he changed the subject.

"Pretty little planet, don't you think? Our friends, the Kazon, directed us here after we forged an alliance with them."

When neither Chakotay nor Torres responded, he continued, "I must say, I was more than a little surprised when our scans indicated a Federation Starship approaching. I am curious: how did you get to this quadrant?"

"We were just as surprised when we received your signals," Chakotay countered, "How did _you_ get here?"

The humorless smile on Preldoc's face disappeared as he stared at Chakotay for a long moment. "I can't really explain it," he said quietly and his eyes took on a faraway look, "one moment we were in the Beta quadrant, and then..."Abruptly, his gaze refocused and the mask was back in place. He strode back to the command console and picked up a tricorder, running his fingers over it.

"You see, we really don't need 'rescuing'. This place has so far proven much safer for us than anywhere in the Beta Quadrant. However, we _are_ in need of quite a few things you undoubtedly carry on board your vessel and I would highly appreciate it if you could deliver a message along with a list of supplies needed to your captain."

Preldoc snapped his fingers and an aide came around the command console and handed him a PADD.

"I'm sure you will find our requisitions quite modest." With a smirk he stepped closer towards Chakotay and Torres, but to the Commander's surprise he handed the PADD to B'Elanna, addressing her directly for the first time, "My guards will transport you back to the Warbird. You should be back on board your vessel soon."

Preldoc motioned to two of his guards who took B'Elanna's arm. Chakotay turned to leave with her, but suddenly he found himself looking into the barrels of two phaser guns aimed directly at him. B'Elanna shot Chakotay a worried glance, and Preldoc stepped in front of the commander, facing him. "Only the Lieutenant, I'm afraid, Commander. You see, I believe that it would emphasize to your captain the need for a speedy delivery of our requested items if you were to be our guest up until then."

He turned to Torres, "Good day, Lieutenant."

And B'Elanna was whisked away by the guards.

When Preloc turned his head, he found Chakotay staring at him,

"What do you really want?"

The Cardassian chuckled, "Straight to the point. My, Commander, I'm merely taking precautions to ensure the survival of my crew in times of need. Which is every time a ship arrives here to answer our distress call."

"Like a spider in its web," remarked Chakotay sarcastically.

Preldoc stepped so close to the commander that Chakotay could smell the odor of his unwashed clothes, "You don't like Cardassians, do you?"

Chakotay decided to tell the truth, "You're damn right. Especially not one in possession of a Romulan Warbird. Care to explain how you acquired it?"

The sneer came back to Preldoc's face and without taking his eyes off Chakotay he called to his aide, "Borval, please take the Commander to our guest quarters."

The addressed aide waved his phaser rifle in the direction of the door and reluctantly Chakotay let himself be led out of the large room and down a dimly lit corridor. It actually looked more like a tunnel to him. _Where _a_re we? Underground?_ he wondered.

Halfway down the hallway they stopped in front of a door made of half steel, half Plexiglas set into the stone wall. The guard tapped a command into the console nearby, the door swung open and Chakotay was unceremoniously shoved inside. It was a small, windowless room entirely devoid of any furnishings. A single fluorescent light fixture on the ceiling weakly illuminated the blank walls. With a hiss the door closed and Chakotay was alone. He gave the tiny room a quick look-over, but there wasn't much to look at. His head was spinning with a hundred unanswered questions and after a moment he did what he normally would do when he had to think clearly. He sat down cross-legged on the floor and tried to meditate.

**KATHRYN...**

"Replicators, power generators, tricorders, phaser rifles, half a dozen shuttles, _the warp core...._? This is preposterous!"

Captain Janeway slammed the PADD containing the list down onto her desk.

Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres stopped her furious pacing at the sound of her captain's angry voice. Only minutes ago she and the rest of the Away Team had beamed back on board.

After Commander Tuvok had not been able to reach them over the comlink, the rest of the Away Team had come looking for them. They had found and searched the Warbird as well, and when Tuvok's tricorder indicated traces of phaser fire residue, they had alerted the Captain.

But not a minute later B'Elanna had materialized on the bridge of the Romulan vessel, a PADD in hand, highly agitated but unable to tell them where she had been beamed from. She had hastily relayed the events of the past hour to them, then stormed off to search the perimeters for any sign of the Cardassian compound; a frenzied, but fruitless search.

Now, back on Voyager, Captain Janeway had been listening quietly to the young chief engineer's report, liberally peppered with Klingon courses. She let them slide, the concern for her first officer overshadowing the impulse to remind the worked-up Klingon about Starfleet reporting protocols.

When B'Elanna had finished, the two women looked at each other and she saw the deep lines of worry etched into her captain's face before Janeway wordlessly turned to the PADD with the requisition list again.

"Captain, what's our plan of action?" Torres asked, eager to do something, anything.

_Good question. How do you find someone if you don't know where to look?_ Janeway thought.

She circled around her desk and faced her chief engineer. "I am not in the habit of bargaining for my crew members." There was a determined look in her eyes as she handed B'Elanna back the PADD, "But we _are_ going to find him."

B'Elanna shook her head with a miserable look on her face, "This is the second time we ran into a trap following a Federation distress signal. And the first time we lost Chakotay, too!"

Janeway vividly remembered the first time. The traitorous Seska and her Kazon lover had tricked them with a fake Federation signal, then boarded the ship and stole a transporter module. When they made their escape they had left Voyager crippled, with a Kazon shuttle partially embedded in its hull. Chakotay had taken the whole incident very personally, decided to play Lone Ranger and gone after them on his own.

Kathryn put a reassuring hand on Torres' shoulder, "But we did get him back, didn't we? And we will get him back this time as well."

The young Klingon avoided her Captain's eyes to mask the uncertainty on her face, "I guess I'll...go reprogram the sensors. See if we can circumvent those electromagnetic interferences from the surface somehow. Maybe we'll come up with something that way."

Janeway nodded wordlessly, looking after her trusted crewmember as B'Elanna made her way out of the ready room.

Kathryn hoped she had sounded more certain than she felt.

It was true that Chakotay had been in precarious and dangerous situations before; he knew how to handle himself. But alone with a band of who knows how many Cardassians? Fear squeezed her heart with an icy grip.

_Chakotay, please be all right._

**QUESTIONS...**

Footsteps in the corridor. Chakotay raised his head when they halted in front of his cell door. Through the Plexiglas he could see three armed guards and he rose from his spot on the floor to face them. The door swung open and two of the guards approached him while the other kept his weapon aimed at him. Chakotay had a bad premonition as the guards swiftly yanked his arms onto his back and shackled him with steel wrist restraints before hauling him out of the cell.

They took him back to the same command room. Gul Preldoc was again standing by the large console, conferring with his aide. They ignored him, and with the guards holding onto his arms Chakotay could do nothing but wait silently. His gaze fell onto two more Cardassians standing a few feet off to Preldoc's side and his blood ran cold when he recognized the blue-glowing sticks they were carrying in their hands: Electro batons. A preferred Cardassian torture instrument.

Preldoc turned from his aide to him. "Ah, Commander, nice to see you again." When he approached Chakotay the two soldiers with their batons flanked him.

"Why do I have the feeling that you are not going to ask me to join you for dinner?" Chakotay asked, staring Preldoc in the face.

The Cardassian smirked, "If it is food you want, I would be happy to oblige you after you've answered a few small questions of mine."

Chakotay's eyes narrowed, "The list's a fake. This was never about anything on there."

The cords over Preldoc's eyes moved up in an amused expression. "Humans - ever so direct. You are not fooled lightly, I see. But yes, you are quite right. You see, Commander, we have been stranded on this forsaken planet for years now, and I vowed to get off this cursed place by any means necessary. Thankfully we were able to scavenge most of our technology from the wreckage of our ship and after scanning Voyager I have come to the conclusion that your vessel is by far the most inviting we have been able to attract so far with our signal. So I have chosen it to be the ship that will take us away from here."

"But that's exactly why we came here; to help you get off this planet," Chakotay exclaimed.

Preldoc guffawed, "I'm not asking to be a passenger on your ship, Commander, I mean to take it. You see, I like to travel comfortably and that means being on the bridge rather than the brig."

Chakotay stared into the Cardassian's eyes and the old, familiar feelings of hatred welled up in him again. "There is no way you will take Voyager, Preldoc."

"Oh, but there is. Which brings me back to my original questions, Commander. See, in order to disable Voyager's defense systems and shields for my boarding party I need its command codes, and who better to provide me with them then their first officer?"

Now the Cardassian smiled genuinely as the two soldiers on either side of him stepped forward and raised their batons.

**THE REAL PRELDOC...**

"Tuvok to Captain Janeway."

Without opening her eyes or lifting her forehead from the cool surface of the viewport, Janeway replied, "What is it Tuvok?" _How long had she been standing here?_

"Captain, there is some information you should be aware of," he informed her in his direct, expressionless manner. "It concerns the leader of the Cardassian crew."

"Bring it on."

A moment later the door to her ready room hissed open and Tuvok entered, PADD in hand.

He came straight to the point.

"During Lieutenant Torres' report while on the surface, Gul Preldoc's name sounded vaguely familiar to me, so I cross-referenced his name in Starfleet's Security Databank and these are the results."

He handed her the PADD. Janeway accepted it, but barely glanced at it. "Fill me in, Tuvok."

He nodded and continued, "Gul Preldoc's name is mentioned several times in connection with various crimes such as treason, piracy, weapons smuggling and multiple murders. He is being sought by Starfleet, the Cardassian Obsidian Order and the Romulan Tal Shiar. The last incident connected with his name occurred approximately six months before our encounter with the Caretaker. A Romulan Warbird had been reported missing in the Denarius system, a small group of planets on the outskirts of the Romulan Empire. According to the Tal Shiar's security reports, the warbird had been on patrol when it failed to transmit a scheduled report. When the search party arrived at the warbird's last known coordinates, they found forty-two of the forty-five crew members floating in space."

He stopped when he saw the Captain's stricken expression. But she waved for him to continue, "Let me guess. Enter Gul Preldoc."

He nodded, "Apparently Preldoc had somehow managed to bribe three Romulan centurions to manipulate and disable the vessel's defensive systems long enough for his team of Cardassian outlaws to board the ship, dispose of the crew, and take off. The warbird's residue warp trail led into the general direction of the Badlands, but neither the Outlaws' vessel nor the Romulan ship was ever recovered."

Janeway looked out of her viewport onto the planet looming below her. "Until now."

Abruptly she turned and came around her desk to face her security chief.

"But how did they end up _here_?" she wondered out aloud.

Tuvok evenly returned her gaze, "One logical assumption would be that, being that they were evidentially headed towards the Badlands, they were subjected to the same form of abduction by the Caretaker than we were."

"And in a Warbird..."Kathryn took a deep breath as the realization struck her, "That would also explain why we weren't able to detect any life signs on the surface. They have found themselves the best possible hiding spot: An undetectable Romulan cloak."

**INTERROGATION...**

Preldoc was frustrated. "Enough!" he yelled.

The two guards stopped in mid-swing and released their grips on their prisoner. Chakotay sank to his knees, barely conscious. So far they had achieved nothing. Preldoc shot a disgusted look at the gasping figure on the floor. The Human had proven to be more tenacious than he had anticipated. He had begun the interrogation in the traditional Cardassian manner, with his guards applying electro baton shots while he had calmly repeated his questions to the commander. But Chakotay had stayed silent. Preldoc was not a patient man, and after a while he had ordered his lackeys to use their fists as they pleased. But after almost an hour, Chakotay, although bruised and bloody, had yet to reveal any information.

Preldoc had to admit grudgingly that this was the longest a Human had ever withstood any of his interrogations. But this only made him angrier and he stood in front of Chakotay and hissed down on him: "What you are doing is foolish, Commander. I _will_ get those codes, it's only a matter of time, for I do have other means at my disposal. You are only making this harder on yourself."

Chakotay's reply was to spit a streak of blood on the floor directly in front of Preldoc's boots. Then he looked up, black eyes shrouded in pain, but still defiant, "You've got the wrong guy, Cardassian, because the only thing I'm gonna tell you is to rot in hell!"

Preldoc held his stare, nodding slowly. "Very well, have it your way." He turned and motioned for his aide.

"Bring me a Hypospray of the Serum. It's time to speed things up. Oh, and a recording PADD." He shot Chakotay another look. "I think I'll send his captain another message. We don't want them getting suspicious on us, do we?"

**THE MESSAGE...**

"Captain, I'm reading a signal coming from the transport site on the planet." Ensign Kim reported.

Janeway turned her head. "What is it?"

"Seems to be some sort of a message signal."

"Scan."

Kim touched his console several times. "Actually, it's emitted from some sort of messaging device." Kim looked up, "Being that they don't have any hailing technology, that might be their way of sending us a letter."

Janeway thought for a moment. "Beam it up."

Moments later a plain-looking message PADD materialized onto the bridge. Janeway held it for a moment before turning it over to Harry.

"On screen, Mr. Kim."

A Cardassian face appeared on the bridge's view screen.

"To the captain of the Federation Starship Voyager. I am Gul Preldoc, leader of the Cardassian outpost of Dan-Gul. By now you have undoubtedly received my humble request for provisions and other assorted devices we so desperately need down here. But I am perturbed that you have thus far not conceded to my requests. Maybe it's taking you a while to get everything together, but in the meantime I thought I should send you a little incentive that will help you hasten things along a bit."

The screen widened and showed the Cardassian kneeling down to reach for something. Kathryn's hand flew to her mouth and she let out a gasp when she recognized Chakotay. The Cardassian grabbed a fistful of the commander's hair and yanked his head back. An involuntary moan escaped through Chakotay's clenched teeth. Kathryn's eyes filled with tears. Chakotay's face was bruised almost beyond recognition, his eyes were nearly swollen shut and he was bleeding freely from his nose and lips as well as numerous cuts all over his face. He tried to turn away from the monitor, but the Cardassian had a tight grip on his hair.

"You have two hours, Captain. I don't think your first officer will make it much longer than that."

The screen went blank and the bridge of Voyager was deadly silent. Everyone was stunned and shocked by what they had just seen. Slowly the captain rose from her chair and, very deliberately, walked towards her ready room. "You have the bridge, Mr. Tuvok," she hoarsely addressed the Vulcan, and the angry fire that now burned in those blue eyes was so intense that even he was taken aback for a second.

As the doors closed behind her, Kathryn let out the sob she had been holding in. The tears spilled over her eyes and she clenched her hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

_Oh God, Chakotay!_

Kathryn paced the entire length of her ready room, trying to digest the images she had just seen. It wasn't working. Before her mental eye she saw him on the bridge, heading towards the turbolift, saw him turning around, smiling at her, just a few hours ago. But then the view changed. A beaten face, bloody, in pain. A grinning Cardassian.

_Preldoc! _She came to a stop in front of her large viewport and brought her fist up to the glass. _You will pay for what you've done to him, you bastard. You're a dead man! _

"Whoa, what am I thinking_?" _she said aloud, surprised at her own rage, "I should be focusing on how to get Chakotay out of there, not planning some revenge agenda."

She hugged herself, her mind working furiously.

_Three years ago I didn't even know your name. Today I can't imagine a day without you_

The sentence popped into her head without warning and it was so true that in that instant, looking out her viewport, Kathryn vowed to tell Chakotay those exact words when he was safely back on Voyager. _If _he

No, no 'If'. Only 'When'. There simply was no other possibility than 'When'.

A headache was beginning to pound at her temples and she ran her shaking hands through her hair. She needed a plan to get her man back. A good one. A fast one.

**THE PLAN...**

"Senior officers to my ready room!"

Tom, Harry, Tuvok and B'Elanna jumped from their stations and were gathered around their captain within moments. Janeway had gotten her composure back, but her hands were still shaking slightly as she turned to them, "Wherever he is, we are getting him out of there. Now! B'Elanna, have you gotten anywhere with the scans yet?"

Torres shook her head, frustration on her face. "No, I simply can't find a power source that might indicate a cloaked compound. There's just not enough information about Romulan cloaks in our databanks to determine even a general frequency on which to scan."  
"Then we have only one other alternative. Infiltration."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a suggestion as to how that might be achieved, Captain?"

Janeway nodded and turned towards Torres again. "You said that there were mostly Cardassians in the compound?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then we need a Cardassian as our infiltrator."

"Captain, we do not have any..."  
"I know." Janeway held up a hand, "But I have an idea..."

**THE DOCTOR'S PART...**

"Those animals!" the Doctor was just as shocked as the rest of the bridge crew had been after he had viewed the recorded message on the PADD. He turned to Janeway.

"Captain, the commander needs immediate medical attention and...."

"I know that, Doctor, but we have only an hour left to comply with their demands and so far we haven't been able to determine the location of the compound."

Kathryn stopped for a moment before she continued, her voice quieter now, worried. "And even if we adhere to their demands and send them every damn thing that's on that list, including the warp core, I just don't believe they would simply hand over the commander, thank us for the wares and be gone. There's got to be more. Some hidden agenda, I just feel it."

Janeway looked up into the Doctor's face. "We need to move fast, and the only way to get into their place seems to be walking right through the front door."

"...which we unfortunately can't find due to the cloak." The Doctor finished the sentence for her.

Janeway smiled a hard smile, "Not if they show us the way."

The Doctor's expression suddenly cleared, "You mean..."

"Look, we have no time for lengthy masquerades, you have Cardassian anatomy stored in your program bank, Torres is already replicating some of their clothing for you and you can be off within minutes..."  
"Captain, you do not need to convince me. I'll do my best to blend in down there."

"Thank you. I knew I could count on you. We are getting some of the requested power generators and replicators ready and we'll beam you down piggyback at the same time. That way they won't be able to trace multiple transport signals. We might have to deposit you into a tree, though. Don't want them seeing you, in case the drop-off area is being watched."

The Doctor grimaced, "Just don't dump me onto the highest Redwood you can find."

Kathryn's mouth formed into a lopsided smile before she continued. "The back-up team will provide cover for you and Chakotay once you get him out of the compound. Mr. Kim will be

continuously scanning the surface and will beam us all out as soon as you've cleared the cloak. How you are going to do that is up to you, though."

The Doctor nodded, his face determined. "I'll make it happen."

Just then the doors to sickbay opened and B'Elanna strode in, carrying a folded cloth in her arms which she handed to the Doctor. "This is as close as I could replicate their duds. And here," she handed the Doctor a small rectangular device, hardly larger than his palm.

"I have modified the signal strength of these communicators. The waves now only carry about two hundred, maybe two hundred and fifty meters, but it should be strong enough to get through the interferences down there. So now we can at least stay in contact."

"Let's hope you are right." the Doctor answered as he took the garment and the communicator. "Now, if you ladies would excuse me, I have a makeover to tackle."

**RESISTANCE...**

"Round Two, Commander." Preldoc wore his smirk again as his aide handed him a hypodermic injector. The guards had hoisted Chakotay into a chair. The commander was breathing hard. They had broken his nose pretty early in the interrogation process and since then he had been trying to inhale as much air as possible in between their blows.

Out of his half-swollen eyes Chakotay watched Preldoc adjust the efficiency level of the serum. He forced himself to relax. He was pretty sure he knew what kind of drug he was about to receive and he didn't have much time. He needed help.

He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply through his split lips. _Spirit guide, please, _his mind yelled, _I beg you to_ _come to my aid. Don't let them cloud my mind. Hear me, father! _

_I cannot fail Kathryn. Give me strength. Please!_

And then he felt the cold metal of the injector on his neck.

**SEARCH AND RESCUE...**

_Vertigo._ That was the first sensation he felt after his holographic structure re-materialized onto a branch of what he felt _had_ to be the tallest tree on this planet. He clutched the massive trunk, trying not to look down.

"I'm a Hologram, I'm not supposed to be dizzy," he mumbled, "Note to myself: Adjust vertical sensation awareness upon return to Voyager."

He slowly let go of the tree trunk and retrieved a palm-sized pair of binoculars from his belt pouch. His hands felt awkward in their Cardassian disguise, the thin, blue-grey cords over his fingers making it hard for him to curl them around the field glasses as he brought them to his eyes and scanned his surroundings. Less than fifty feet from his position, several small crates had materialized on the ground; a partial delivery of the items from Preldoc's list, transported to his stipulated coordinates. The Doctor hoped that some of the Cardassian's men were nearby, watching the transport site.

He didn't have to wait long. After only a couple of minutes, three armed Cardassians and a Kazon emerged from the cover of the dense foliage below and cautiously approached the crates. The Doctor shrunk back behind the cover of the tree trunk as the three figures below studied the area with their own binoculars before they hoisted the crates onto each other's backs and disappeared back into the underbrush from which they had emerged.

The Doctor produced another palm-size device from his pouch and tapped a command. The small viewscreen came to life and a pulsing red dot appeared. With a satisfied nod he tapped his combadge, "Doctor to Captain Janeway. The packages were just picked up and the homing device is working, but I don't know how long the signal will hold in this interference."

"On our way," came the captain's answer and only seconds later, four figures materialized under his tree together with a second set of crates. From his vantage point it took the Doctor a moment to recognize the Captain, Tuvok, B'Elanna, and Lieutenant Ayala, for they were clad in Starfleet-issued green and brown Combat Camouflage uniforms. The Doctor could not remember ever seeing Janeway wearing this seldom-used attire, but he saw the logic behind it, as this mission relied on stealth while they traced the renegades back to their covert location. Janeway looked up and motioned the Doctor down with a wave of her hand. Her hair was tucked under a cap of the same colors and in her arm she cradled a phaser rifle, equally camouflaged in matte green and brown tints. Once on solid ground the Doctor handed her the homing transmitter and silently they moved off at a brisk pace, following the steadily pulsing signal.

**PRELDOC'S FRUSTRATION...**

"I..don't...believe...this!" Preldoc yelled, slamming his fist into the command console. His aide looked down on the floor, uncomfortable. He knew the leader's temper was about to boil over. And Preldoc promptly turned to him. "You gave me the wrong serum!"

"No, believe me, Gul Preldoc, I double checked it."

"So why isn't it working? This Terran should be a babbling mess by now," Preldoc yelled even louder, "Instead here he is mumbling about 'wide plains' and 'flying eagles' and 'wild horses'! He doesn't even seem to hear my questions anymore! It's like he's in a whole other world. And I'm running out of time."

With a cry of rage Preldoc lunged at Chakotay. He swung wide and the force of his fist on Chakotay's jaw lifted the commander right out of the chair. Right after Chakotay hit the ground Preldoc struck out with his heavy boot and heard the satisfying crack of ribs.

Chakotay cried out in pain.

"Talk!" Preldoc screamed at him.

"Gul Preldoc, if I may make a suggestion..." the aide said carefully.

Preldoc spun around, "What?"

"We still have the mind probe. It'll..."

"Yes, I know, it will kill him, but it seems to be our only remaining choice now." Preldoc was breathing hard, trying to regain his control.

"Get the device ready," he snapped.

The Cardassian hurried from the room. Preldoc cast a murderous look at the commander.

"Get him out of my sight," he ordered the guards with an impatient wave of his hand.

The guards hurried to obey and half-carried, half-dragged Chakotay out of the room.

When they arrived at his cell door they simply dumped him onto the floor, not even bothering to remove his shackles. Chakotay fell hard, and the pain from the impact was like a searing jagged knife slicing through his injured rib cage. For a moment he couldn't move, couldn't even breathe, before he slowly managed to roll himself into a sideways position and tried to concentrate on just taking in careful gasps of air. Every inch of his tormented body was in agony and the slightest movement just made it worse.

The drug was still pumping through his system and his head was throbbing mercilessly, sending a rush of dozens of random images spinning through his mind. But one figure was becoming larger and clearer and then he saw Kathryn's face in front of him, smiling at him and he faded into unconsciousness with her name on his lips.

**MEANWHILE...**

From behind the cover of some giant ferns the Away Team watched the renegades lower their cargo crates to the ground. They had been following them for several minutes when the trees gradually thinned out and suddenly their four targets stepped from the forest into a clearing, and what seemed to be a vast plain stretched out before them. The three Cardassians conversed quietly for a moment and then one of them approached a tree at the edge of the clearing. Janeway brought her field glasses to her eyes just in time to see the Cardassian remove a piece of tree trunk. Underneath it she could make out a blinking display console and the soldier punched in a code.

"Four...Six...One...Eight...Three," she murmured while she watched him thump the numbers.

Suddenly, out of thin air right in the middle of the vast grassland, a rectangular opening appeared. The Cardassian slipped the bark back in place and hurried to join his companions as they stepped through the doorway, lugging the crates. Almost immediately the opening closed and the plains were once again undisturbed. But the Away Team knew better.

Janeway turned to the Doctor, "All right, as soon as you get inside, just act normal. Contact us as soon as you deem it safe. We'll work on the diversion out here." She fixed her eyes on him, "Just get him out. Fast."

The EMH nodded wordlessly and set off towards the tree. Janeway exhaled deeply when a few moments later she saw him step through the decloaked door.

Once inside, the Doctor found himself in a dusky stone corridor. Judging from the phaser burns on the scorched stone, this tunnel had been enlarged manually. The tunnel then turned sharply to the left and after he rounded the corner...he stopped dead in his tracks. Three feet in front of him a surveillance monitoring device hung from the ceiling, and, mounted right beside it, a Romulan disruptor gun was angled at him. Just beyond the gun the Doctor noticed a faint illumination and a barely audible crackling sound came to his ears. _Force field_, his mind registered automatically as he turned his gaze towards the surveillance monitor.

He had no idea what to do: Was there a certain signal he was supposed to give, a code word he needed to speak? Even as these thoughts raced through his brain, the monitor sprang to life, bathing the Doctor in opalescent blue light. The gun automatically adjusted its angle and now pointed straight at his chest. The light wandered over the EMH's disguised body while he could do nothing but stand motionless and hope for the best. The notion came to his mind that if he were Human he'd probably start sweating just about now. Nevertheless, he had to force himself to breathe normally and cast a level gaze into the light. A moment later the light dimmed and the force field was shut off by unseen hands. The Doctor gave an inward sigh of relief and quickly moved past the force field's sensors. Light fixtures hung from the ceiling on exposed cables, casting only a weak light down the tunnel.

"_Must be inside a mountain_," the Doctor thought as he strode over the stone floor, trying to look purposeful. He had covered about fifty meters when suddenly a door to his left opened and a Cardassian and a Kazon emerged. The Kazon walked by him without a second glance, but the Cardassian hesitated and stared at the Doctor, "I don't think I've ever seen _you," _he sneered at him.

The Doctor quickly changed his expression to a defying glare. "I don't get to come over here much."

"Where is your station?" the Kazon now stood next to his friend, scrutinizing the unfamiliar crewmember.

The Doctor managed to look both annoyed and slightly embarrassed. "Waste disposal."

The Kazon and the Cardassian burst into laughter.

"Yeah, no wonder I don't know you!"

"Hey, I think the latrine in the Command Center is still not working. That's why you're here, right?"

The Doctor made a show of low growls and stares, but did not reply and after a few more patronizing remarks the Cardassian grabbed his friend by the shoulder and steered him down the corridor. "Come on, let's get away from that smell."

Laughing and snickering they made their way towards the force field and the exit, never looking back.

The Doctor let out the holographic breath he had been holding and moved off in the opposite direction, in case he encountered more 'crewmembers', but the corridor was deserted. When he heard no more footsteps from the two soldiers he reached into his belt pouch and removed his tricorder. To his relief he found it working perfectly, now that he was within the cloak and quickly he scanned the interior of the compound for Chakotay's biosigns. _There!_ According to the signal, the commander seemed to be only about two hundred meters from his position. After another glance up and down the corridor, the Doctor took the communicator out of his pocket. "Doctor to Away Team."

Static.

"Doctor to Away Team. Do you read?"

Out of the hiss and crackle a faint voice became audible. "Janeway here, we read you, Doctor."

"I have located the Commander's biosigns and I am moving out to get him."

"Understood, Doctor. We are positioned and we'll be on the lookout for you. Be prepared for some noise in about five minutes..." the rest was drowned in the increasing static interference.

The Doctor sighed, squared his shoulders and moved off down the tunnel.

After a few feet the hallway once again veered to the left and when the EMH rounded the corner he almost fell over the outstretched feet of a Kazon guard leaning lazily against the wall beside a door.

"What?" the guard barked at him.

The Doctor's thoughts flew at the speed of light as he motioned towards the door, "Preldoc wants us to bring him back for some more questions."

Through the Plexiglas of the door he could just barely make out a pair of black boots.

The Kazon frowned, "Are you joking? The Human can barely talk anymore. Besides, Borval should be here with the mind probe any moment now."

The Doctor shrugged, feigning indifference, "What do I care? Maybe Preldoc wants to probe him in the Command Center. I've been told to bring him there. And you're gonna help me. Now open the door."

The Kazon grunted, shook his head and turned to type a command into the door lock. As he turned his back the Doctor reached into his pocked and brought out a hypo. Just as the door hissed open he reached an arm around the guard's neck and pressed the injector against his exposed skin.

"Sweet dreams," he mumbled. The Kazon only struggled for a moment before he went slack. Quickly the Doctor pulled the unconscious soldier into the room, then turned towards Chakotay. The commander lay crumpled on his side, unmoving, and for a moment the Doctor feared the worst as he knelt beside him to unclamp the wrist restraints. When Chakotay's hands were free, the Doctor quickly ran his medical tricorder over him. The results made him frown deeply. He grabbed Chakotay's shoulder and shook him gently but insistently,

"Commander, Commander, can you hear me? Wake up."

Chakotay's eyes fluttered open and his arm came up to reach weakly for the Doctor's throat. The EMH caught it easily, "Commander, it's me. It's the Doctor. We don't have much time. The captain and the Away Team are outside, we are getting you out."

_Kathryn_... Chakotay's gaze slowly focused on the Doctor and suddenly his bruised eyes widened as he recognized the voice that spoke to him_. But the Cardassian face_...

"Doctor...?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Yes, I know this looks strange, but, hey, you try to come up with a better plan in less than an hour." The Doctor pulled out his hypospray again and pressed it against Chakotay's neck.

"This will temporarily numb the pain from your ribs. We have to get moving. Do you think you can walk?"

Chakotay nodded weakly and the Doctor reached out to help him into a sitting position.

"You also have a concussion, so try not to move your head."

Chakotay almost nodded again, before the meaning of the Doctor's words registered.

"Doc?"

The Doctor turned to see Chakotay studying him intently, the faint outlines of a smile on his bloodied lips, "I've got to get a picture of this."

"Don't hold your breath."

Suddenly the sound of heavy boots resounded from the corridor, quickly drawing closer. The Doctor froze, looking towards the door. _At least three pairs of boots. I might be able to stun one of them, but the others?_

He had already drawn his phaser when, all of a sudden, the muffled noise of an explosion filled the air all around them. The earth trembled, and now confused shouts and exclamations came from the corridor outside and the footsteps quickly retreated.

_The Warbird, _he realized with a start, _she blew up the Warbird!_

And an uncharacteristically big grin split the Doctor's Cardassian features as he carefully helped the injured first officer to his feet.

Nausea surged through Chakotay as he struggled to stay upright on wobbly legs. Despite the Doctor's analgesic he could feel his battered body scream in protest with every motion. The Doctor saw the color drain from the commander's face and quickly grabbed him around the waist to keep him from falling. He draped Chakotay's arm around his neck and shoved his phaser into the commander's free hand, "It seems that I'll be doing the hauling, so you might as well do the shooting. And if you see double, just shoot them both."

Chakotay was a big man, but luckily one of the Doctor's holographic abilities was to adjust his physical strength to match just about any load and therefore Chakotay's weight was not much of a hindrance to him as the two men carefully approached the cell's doorway to peek into the corridor.

Cardassians and Kazons were pouring out of side doors and running towards the exit, every one of them heavily armed. If the door the Doctor had come through was the only way out, then that route of escape had now been effectively blocked for them. They eased back into the tiny cell before they could be spotted.

"You wouldn't happen to know of any other way out of here, would you, Commander?" the EMH asked as he somewhat clumsily tried to hold up his patient and pull out his tricorder at the same time.

"No, but..."

"But what?"

"The Command Center..."

The Doctor nodded, catching on to Chakotay's train of thought. He activated his tricorder,

"I am reading a large concentration of energy about one hundred meters ahead of us. That might be it."

"Let's go."

The Doctor cautiously viewed the corridor again. Fortunately, the mass of bodies was moving away from them and they covered the distance to the Command Center undetected. But as they burst through the double doors they found it occupied. Borval, the aide to Gul Preldoc, was standing behind the command console. His head jerked up at their sudden entry and he lunged for his phaser rifle. But even in his weakened state, Chakotay was quicker and the stunned body of the Cardassian disappeared behind the console with a thud. Dragging the commander with him, the Doctor made his way around the massive device and swiftly studied the array of computer displays in front of him.

"This is the main computer from the bridge of the Warbird," he mumbled as he tapped several commands.

"Try to contact Voyager," Chakotay said with a raspy voice, leaning heavily onto the console.

"Right after I've deactivated the cloaking device." The Doctor's fingers were flying over the console and he sincerely hoped that Mr. Kim was doing his job up there and continuously scanned the surface. He must have been, for almost immediately after the Doctor turned off the cloak, the combadge hidden in his clothing chirped.

"Kim to the Doctor."

The EMH wasted no time on niceties, "Ensign, can you log on to us?"

"Affirmative, I am reading both of your life signs. Stand ready for transport."

The Doctor quickly dug into his pocket and produced a round, metallic device, tapped a few buttons, and inserted it into the main download slot of the computer console just in time before they dematerialized.

**GUARDING THE RETREAT...**

At the edge of the clearing outside of the compound, the Away Team was engaged in a fierce firefight with the numerous Cardassian and Kazon mercenaries that emerged from the unseen door on the plains. Captain Janeway had sent Lieutenant Ayala back to the Warbird with enough explosives to blow the vessel back to the Beta Quadrant and after the ear-shattering explosion they did not have to wait long for the expected response. But the mercenaries had poured out of the disembodied doorway armed to the teeth and the ensuing exchange of phaser was instantaneous and ferocious. Clenching her jaw, Janeway had been dodging and returning fire for several minutes now and with every moment that passed, her hopes were sinking. "Come on, Doctor, come on!" her brain screamed as if she could will the EMH to fulfill his mission successfully. She desperately tried not to think of Chakotay at all; to do so would have rendered her useless, for her emotions would surely have gotten the best of her then. Therefore her heart soared when suddenly the plains in front of her shimmered out of sight and were replaced with the very real image of a large mountain. The doorway was now firmly embedded at the foot of the rock foundation. The Doctor had managed to deactivate the cloak.

Only a moment later Harry Kim's voice came over the comline. "Captain, we have locked onto the Doctor and the Commander."

"Both alive?" Her voice sounded thin to her.

"Yes, ma'am, they are being beamed to Sickbay as we speak."

A large chunk of tree trunk exploded barely two inches from her head. "Well, we certainly wouldn't mind leaving this little party down here a bit early. Four to beam up, Mr. Kim."

But just before she felt the familiar tingle of disembodiment, she reached into her pocket and dropped a Starfleet recording PADD with Gul Preldoc's name on it onto the ground. Then they were gone.

**SICKBAY...**

They arrived almost simultaneously with the Doctor and Chakotay in Sickbay. Kathryn helped the Doctor carefully place Chakotay on the nearest cot. The Doctor injected him with a sedative and proceeded to scan him thoroughly.

"Multiple hematomas, contusions, lacerations, nasal fracture, three broken ribs on the right side, numerous electro burns on chest, arms and torso, advanced craniocerebral trauma and high residue quantities of Chkalatt in his system."

Janeway looked at the Doctor, "Chkalatt?"

"The Cardassian version of Sodium Pentothal. A 'truth' serum, if you wish."

The Doctor snapped his tricorder shut. "This wasn't just for sport. They were looking for information."

Kathryn's eyes were fixed on the bloody face of the man she loved. _Information? _She reached out and very carefully caressed the tattooed side of his face.

"Chakotay, it's Kathryn. You're back on Voyager. You're going to be all right, do you hear me?"

Chakotay grimaced with pain as the Doctor started to remove his uniform jacket, but he opened his eyes a crack and looked at her.

"Kathryn," he said hoarsely, "I didn't tell them anything. I didn't tell him the codes..."

_Voyager's command codes. So that's what they had been after!_

"I know, Chakotay," she whispered, grasping his hand in hers and continuing to stroke his face. "You must rest now, do you hear?" But Chakotay's eyes were already glazing over, his features relaxed and his eyes closed. She was still holding onto his hand when she noticed that his wrists were chafed an angry red. Rage rose in her again from the very bottom of her gut and a sudden vision danced in front of her eyes, of a certain compound being blown into a million pieces by one of Voyager's photon torpedoes.

The Doctor's voice abruptly brought her out of her dark fantasy, "Captain, the sedative will keep him asleep for a while. I will have to first reverse his concussion, then regenerate his ribs and fix his nose, and that will take some time. I will keep you informed."

Kathryn caught the hint. She knew she should get out of his way, but she was loath to leave Chakotay. Impulsively she kissed the back of his hand before gently replacing it onto his chest. Then she turned to the Hologram, "Very well, I'll be on the bridge, Doctor."

If the Doctor had seen her gesture it didn't show on his face. "All right, let me get to work on making the commander look like himself again."

"And you, too." She couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the Doctor still in his Cardassian disguise.

Startled, the EMH brought his hand up to his face. "Oh, of course. I almost forgot."

He turned to reach for the osteogenic stimulator when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Captain Janeway was looking at him, her face intent. "Thank you."

The Doctor nodded, momentarily taken aback at the unexpected gesture. The concern in her eyes was still very much evident and his voice softened, "They worked him over pretty bad, but nothing that cannot be repaired. He will be able to leave Sickbay tomorrow."

She nodded and, with a last look at the still figure on the bio-bed, turned and left Sickbay.

**SAFE AND SOUND...**

Upon entering the bridge, Kathryn ordered Tom to break orbit.

"But Captain, what about the Cardassians?" the pilot asked perplexed, "We're just going to let them go? They are Starfleet-wanted terrorists."

"So are half of this crew, Tom," she had replied, "but personally, I wouldn't sleep well knowing that there are several dozen Cardassians in our brig. Besides, we don't have the rations to feed them all, even if I wanted to take them along. Which I don't." she added under her breath, but loud enough for him to hear.

Now, several hours later, Kathryn was working on her log entries in her ready room when her combadge chirped, "Chakotay to Captain Janeway."

Kathryn closed her eyes for half a second, allowing herself to relish the sound of his voice, and she smiled before she answered semi-formally: "Good to hear your voice, Commander."

"Thank you. Captain, request permission to leave Sickbay."

"Doctor?"  
"Captain, I have strongly suggested to the Commander that he stay in Sickbay at least until tomorrow morning. I have not completely finished 'Ironing him out' yet."

"But would you pronounce him well enough to leave?"

"Well...yes, but I'd like to finish what I started. Not that anyone around here seems to appreciate my thoroughness, but..."

"Captain, I'm fine..." Chakotay cut in.

"Really? And when did you acquire your medical degree, Commander?" the Doctor's voice had taken on a snidely tone.

"...and I'm sure I can be of more use on the bridge than down here."

Kathryn could almost hear the silent _Pleeaase_ in his sentence. She suppressed a laugh.

"Permission granted, Commander, but only if you proceed straight to your quarters. I'd like to have you get some more rest. I think this ship will fly without you for another day."

"Captain, I'm..."

"Thank you, Commander. And thank you, Doctor, for your _thoroughness_. Janeway out."

Kathryn cut the connection and grinned. She could just picture the looks that must be passing in Sickbay right now. Chakotay rolling his eyes, the Doctor with his usual 'Why bother, nobody listens to me anyways' expression.

Still grinning, mind at ease now, she turned back to her logs.

**BAD DREAMS...**

At 2200 hours, while Captain Janeway was discussing duty rosters for the next three days with Mr. Tuvok, in his quarters Commander Chakotay awoke with a gasp from a dream, in which he had been back on the surface of the planet. He had again been questioned by Preldoc, but the Cardassian's head had been attached to the body of a huge snake and with every word he spoke his forked tongue had lashed out at Chakotay's face. And then the scaly body had lunged forward, Preldoc's mouth opened wide, the jaws detached and suddenly he was being devoured whole....

Shakily, Chakotay got up from the recliner and ran a hand across his face. He hadn't meant to doze off, but...

The palm of his hand felt damp. As a matter of fact, his whole body was covered with faint perspiration, he realized. _I need a shower. A long one, with real water. _With a sigh he shuffled towards the bathroom.

**REUNION...**

It was close to midnight when Captain Kathryn Janeway finally called it a day. She hadn't planned on working so long on those reports, and now it was most likely too late to check in on Chakotay. But as she walked down the corridor towards her quarters she found herself slowing down, then coming to a halt, staring at his closed door.

"Computer," she spoke softly, "locate Commander Chakotay."

"Commander Chakotay is in his quarters." was the disembodied answer.

"Is he awake?"

"Affirmative."

She reached out for the console beside his door.

The sound of the door chime startled Chakotay. _Who the..._

"Enter!" he called and his heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was.

Kathryn stepped through the door, looking almost shy. "I'm sorry, I know it's late..."

"No, come in," he dropped the PADD he had been reading and rose from his couch.

"I'm glad you came. Can I get you anything? Coffee?"

She waved her hand, "No thanks, I'd be up all night."

"Decaf, then."

She smiled at his insistence. "All right."

While he fumbled with the replicator she settled into the couch cushions and cast a quick look around the room. She noticed his bed was untouched, even though she knew it to be way past his normal bedtime. The faint, melodic sounds of a pan flute filled the room, unobtrusively hovering in the background. And then her gaze fell onto a fur-wrapped pack on the small table next to the couch. His medicine bundle. Chakotay came towards her, coffee and tea in hand. His gaze followed hers.

"I was saying 'Thank You' to a friend for his help," he said softly, but offered no further explanation.

Kathryn didn't probe. She sipped her coffee while he sat down next to her on the couch and looked at him over the rim of her cup. He was dressed casually in black sweat pants and a simple long-sleeved beige T-shirt, blowing into his tea mug and trying hard to look relaxed.

"That's a nice melody. I didn't know we had that in our music library," she remarked.

"It took a little digging," he replied, "but it's the closest I could find to my music collection from the _Liberty_. It soothes me."

He looked anything but soothed.

The Doctor had done a good job on his face, all of the swellings were gone and most of the bruises erased. But over his eyebrows and on his lower lip several cuts were still visible.

A sudden vision of how this beautiful face had looked just a couple of hours ago emerged from her memory and she quickly shoved it back into the deepest corner of her mind.

"The Doctor wasn't as thorough as he always perceives himself to be," she observed.

Chakotay looked down at his bare feet. "I asked him to leave some of it. To serve me as a reminder."

"A reminder?"

He looked past her, his black eyes aglow with anger. "Of what happens when you deal with Cardassians." He literally spat out the last word.

Kathryn had always known of his contempt towards Cardassians. After all, that's what had made him join the Marquis in the first place. Not that she personally liked them, either. She suppressed a shudder as she recalled her own brief time in the hands of the Cardassians years ago.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut in. "I've let my guard down, Kathryn. The minute we stepped onto that planet I should have been much more alert. That signal was part Cardassian, after all. I should have known better."

Kathryn shook her head. "Chakotay, you did nothing wrong. You were investigating a distress signal. No one could have known that..."

"_Yes, I should have!_ I should have anticipated a stunt like that. Instead we walked right into their trap. I've put the Away Team in danger. I put B'Elanna in danger."

Kathryn set down her cup and looked at him sternly, "As far as I remember, it was _me_ who sent you down there. So if you want to blame someone, you better blame me, Commander."

She saw him square his shoulders, ready to argue, so she held up her hand.

"I didn't come here to hear you blame yourself, Chakotay; or for you to hear me blame myself." Her voice softened, "Maybe not even to talk about the events on the planet. Nothing now can change anything about what happened down there. But I had to make sure you knew I am here for you. Now and always."

Chakotay's eyes held her gaze and he nodded solemnly. "I know that. And I am grateful, really. But I need to deal with this by myself. I _**can** _deal with this by myself."

_But you shouldn't have to, _Kathryn thought as she inclined her head towards his bed. "That why you haven't slept yet?" she asked softly.

"I'm not tired yet." he replied, now avoiding her eyes.

"Sure."

He exhaled audibly and leaned back into the couch cushions, still not re-establishing eye contact.

"Bad dreams."

Kathryn took his hand in hers, a surprising gesture that finally made him turn his head towards her.

"Want to talk about it?"

He shook his head. "No. I'd rather just be here... with you," he squeezed her hand lightly,

"...just like this."

"You sure? It might help." She made no motion to remove her hand from his.

He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Kathryn wasn't sure what she had expected him to say when he started to speak, but his question still took her slightly off guard.

"Kathryn?"

"Yes?"

"What happened to the PADD?" His eyes were still closed.

She didn't need to ask which PADD he was talking about. "Oh, it made for some good target practice on the Holodeck."

Wordlessly he nodded, but the look in his eyes, when he finally opened them, was grateful.

Then he turned to her, his body now fully facing her. A decisive look had come over his face.

"You want to know how I'm feeling, what I'm feeling? All right, I'll tell you."

He swallowed before he continued, "I'm angry. At myself for not having foreseen this trap," Now it was his turn to hold up his hand to stifle her remark. His voice hardened slightly when he continued and she saw his hand unconsciously curling into a fist.

"I feel...humiliated at what Preldoc did to me. I was so damn helpless."

Looking at him she realized that the Cardassian had not only hurt Chakotay physically, but also severely bruised his ego. She squeezed his hand, "But in the end it was _you_ who beat _him_."

Chakotay snorted, "I'm not so sure."

"Did he get the command codes?"

"I would have died first."

Kathryn didn't doubt that for a second. "But I thank all the spirits in the universe that you didn't."

She had said that with an expression on her face he couldn't quite place. Their eyes locked and Chakotay was puzzled. There was something different about his captain. He had sensed it since she had entered his quarters, but he had attributed it to her lingering concern for him.

He hesitated, not sure how to reply, so he decided to change the subject.

"What I really want to do is go to the Holodeck and beat the living daylights out of him."

He cracked a slight grin and nodded towards the PADD on the table, "Matter of fact, I am almost finished creating his holoimage and I've already reserved some time in Holodeck Two tomorrow. And I think I'll forgo the gloves."

"Ouch." She had watched Chakotay in the ring on the Holodeck several times. He had a mean punch, and Preldoc deserved every one of them.

Then Kathryn remembered the other reason for her late visit, and the crooked Janeway grin he loved so much appeared on her face. "Well, it might make you feel better to know that Preldoc's little 'shipwrecked' charade has turned into the real thing."

"I know that you have blown up the Warbird." Chakotay exclaimed.

There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "Yes, and with the Warbird went the distress signal transmitter. And once we had you back on Voyager, I took the liberty of programming my own little distress message and sent it out via probe just before we broke orbit. Now whoever picks up this new signal will know exactly who and what will be awaiting them on the surface of that planet."

Chakotay's smile almost reached his dimples. "Too bad he doesn't know about it."

"Oh, he does. I left him a message telling him about the probe just before we beamed out. And the Doctor made sure that Preldoc and his merry men will not be able to hide under their Romulan cloak anymore, because heinfected their command console with a nice, vicious Starfleet virus."

By now the commander's grin matched the captain's. "I didn't know we even had any

'Compliments of Starfleet' viruses in our databank."

"I thought it up the last time we crossed through a spatial void. It's amazing what you can come up with out of sheer boredom."

Suddenly her expression became serious and he saw her other hand reach out to touch him. But it wasn't the expected 'Captain's touch' on his arm or shoulder. Instead she brought her hand up to his jaw and carefully caressed the cut on his lower lip with her thumb. Her eyes were fixed on his lips, but he recognized the significance of her touch immediately. Abruptly he became aware just how close they were sitting to each other. The very air seemed to change around them as he moved his head slightly, pressing his cheek into her palm. In response she craned her neck and for a second she looked straight into those two black windows of his soul and saw all the raw emotions there: desire, fear, hope...and love.

"I was so afraid..." she whispered but stopped herself.

"Of what?" his attention was now wholly on her.

She turned her head, but he cupped her chin, turning her towards him again.

"Please, Kathryn, I need to know."

A strange look had come over his face; as if he knew what she was going to say, but needed confirmation. Was she ready to give this confirmation? Or was it more of a confession? Whatever it was, it needed to come out. Now.

"Afraid of loosing you," she said honestly, "It...would have been impossible to bear that."

He exhaled and his shoulders relaxed, as if a burden had been lifted from them. A faint smile began in the corners of his mouth and he simply responded: "I'm here."

And slowly, ever so slowly, their lips came together.

At first their kiss was not that of instantly passionate lovers, but rather careful, exploratory; almost chaste. His lips were warm and soft, and a shudder ran through her. His scent was so familiar, yet intoxicating; not cologne or soap, just his own masculinity, a smell that sent her heart racing until she felt like it would break right through her rib cage, but when she moved her hand from his jaw to his chest she was surprised to feel his heart beating just as wildly. They had been thrown into each others arms and on top of each other on numerous occasions, but that was usually when the ship had been under attack. Never before had she been so close to him under 'peaceful' circumstances. She could feel the heat emanating from his body as he leaned even closer. Her body moved towards him out of its own accord and their kiss deepened. _Captain Janeway_ was put into a faraway compartment of her mind, the door shut in her face. And that opened another door, one she had kept barricaded far too long. The rush of emotions and feelings that came pouring out almost made her gasp and so did the sudden knowledge that the key which opened the lock had always been right in front of her, kissing her now.

After their lips finally parted neither of them spoke for several seconds, both trying to catch their breaths.

Chakotay broke the silence. "I've waited so long for this," he breathed as he put his forehead against hers.

Kathryn closed her eyes. "Too long." was all she managed to whisper back.

"So...where do we go from here?" he asked quietly after a moment of silence.

She sat up slightly. "To bed."

He started at her words, looking at her with such a surprised and hopeful expression that it made her smile. She caressed his face again, "It's late and you need some sleep."

"Oh." His expression cleared and he blinked, a little embarrassed at his previous reaction. "Ahh...yes. And so do you. It's been a long day. For both of us."

She nodded and started to rise, but he held on to her hand and looked into her eyes.

"Please....stay."

There it was. Two simple words from him, the same she had wanted to say to him across every dinner table since they returned from New Earth, but had been too afraid. And now he had said them for her in his simple, honest way.

She returned his gaze and suddenly she glimpsed something she had never seen there before, or had never let herself see: a loneliness, a longing for her company that, she sensed, went way beyond mere physical joining. It tore at her heart to see this look in his eyes, because she knew he would never voice this longing to her. He was much too considerate of her feelings. If she chose to leave now, he would let her go, deal with his feelings by himself, and still be the faithful first officer and good friend he had been for almost four years now. That was him. Chakotay. And she loved him for it. _No, not just for that. _She loved him, period.

Yet, the Captain in her still felt that she needed to leave; the old familiar feeling of 'defining our parameters' came over her again. But this time, Kathryn, the woman, fought back.

"What will happen if I stay?"

He looked at her with such a tender expression that made her heartbeat quicken again.

"Everything or nothing. It's up to you."

They looked at each other for a long moment, then Kathryn rose and crossed the room to stand in front of his viewport. Chakotay remained on the couch, watching her gaze at the stars whizzing by. He left her to her own thoughts, knowing that she needed time to think. But he couldn't help looking at her, her face briefly tinged in a silvery illumination every time a star passed by. She was beautiful.

She stared out of the window for what seemed to last an eternity. After a while he silently got up to stand behind her, close but not touching. He waited, sensing that an important decision was being made right here in his quarters, right now. Finally she turned around to face him and at once he saw that something had changed. She had reached a decision. She didn't speak, but the look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. His spirits were soaring out of his body and dancing around the room for joy and he felt lightheaded as he bent down to kiss her again. Her arms came around his neck and he pulled her close to him, crushing her against his chest. This time there was nothing chaste in their kiss.

The Delta Quadrant-, Voyager-, space-, time-, it all ceased to exist, Starfleet protocols all deliberately ignored for the moment, as Kathryn and Chakotay sealed their unspoken commitment.

Then he did an unexpected thing: With a quick swipe of his arm he lifted her off her feet and gathered her into his arms. At the sight of the surprise on her face he grinned,

"Well, you said so yourself; it's late and we both need some sleep."

He carried her towards his bed and gently laid her down onto the mattress. She kicked off her boots and peeled out of her jacket while he came around the bed and climbed in from the other side. They faced each other silently, as if words would shatter the comfort of each other's presence. Kathryn held up her hand, palm facing him and a sudden feeling of déjà vu from New Earth overcame him as he laced his fingers through hers.

"Computer, dim lights to twenty percent." His eyes never left her face as the darkening room cast its shadows on it. "Kathryn, if this makes you uncomfortable..."

She silenced him by placing a finger on his lips and reached down to the foot of the bed to pull his soft cotton blanket over them both before she returned her hand into his,

"You and I have been alone long enough," she said quietly, her eyes intent, "and what happened today finally made me face a long-suppressed truth, and that is that I need you, Chakotay."

The words came flowing out of her, haltingly at first, but quickly gaining momentum, like a stream after the first spring thaw. Kathryn Janeway finally, after all this time, bared her soul to him. To her surprise she found it easier than she had imagined. His attention never wavered from her and the multitude of emotions on his face as he absorbed words he never imagined he would hear from her encouraged her to open up to him completely. When she was finished, he silently gazed at her for a moment before he reached out and cradled her against his chest. And then he spoke.

They lost track of how long they talked. Years of unspoken feelings, restrained emotions and bitten tongues condensed into this one night. Words kept pouring out into the open until plain exhaustion finally took over and they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

There was a cleansing feeling to their mutual purging of souls and they both knew that, when they reported to the bridge for duty later on, life would be different.

The three little words, however, were not spoken. Not yet. They didn't need to be. There was time for them later. Nothing but time now.

"Kathryn?"

"Hmm?"

"Sorry about dinner."

It took her a second to realize he was talking about tonight's missed surprise dinner. "Well, considering what you've been through today, I believe that constitutes as a reasonable excuse for not cooking."

"Still, I hate making promises and not delivering. Take a rain check for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, and for every night after that."

He kissed her hair as he hugged her close to him.

"Good night, Kathryn."

"Good night, Chakotay."

_You won't hear me complaining. After all, I got the cook tonight,_ Kathryn thought as she drifted towards sleep.

She awoke sometime later. When she opened her eyes she found him turned towards her, his handsome features relaxed in sleep, a peaceful look on his face. She stifled the urge to touch him and instead just watched him sleep, marveling at the _rightness_ of it all.

Suddenly she remembered her vow. They had talked for hours, but the very words she had vowed to say to him...she had forgotten.

"Tomorrow," she whispered, "I'll tell you tomorrow."

An old Earth phrase popped into her mind.

'_Tomorrow, the beginning of the rest of our lives.'_

Oh, and how she looked forward to it.

No matter where their voyage would take them from here on, she now knew without any doubt that, right here, right now, next to this man, she _was_ home.

Parameters defined.

THE END


End file.
